Trouble Shooters
by JerRocks2day
Summary: This is a rewrite of the first Trouble Shooters story that I've been working on as it starts out with Chris, Joy, Uri and PT as they help Detective Merlock House on the Trouble Shooter's very first adventure.


Trouble Shooters

Episode 1—The Trouble Begins (Part 1)

Author's note: This is a Superbook/Flying House crossover spin-off. This is my second draft of how Chris, Joy, Justin, Corky and the rest of the gang meet up and form the Trouble Shooters, along with 2 original characters. And unlike their original adventures in Superbook and Flying House, they become detectives. This spin-off idea was influenced by old school Disney Afternoon cartoons like Ducktales, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers, Talespin, and Darkwing Duck; along with non-Disney works like Sonic Satam, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Batman, etc. There's also going to be Hanna Barbera characters featured, but only a downplayed amount. The only recurring villains will be the Dalton gang and possibly Dick Dastardly and Muttley.

**Characters:**

Christopher Peeper

Joy

Uriah Peeper

PT (aka PollyTech 2500)

Merlock House

Iron Claw

Dom Bell

The Dalton Gang

Professor Peeper

Uncle Ken

**July 6****th****, 8:58 PM; Outskirts of Ecto Valley**

It was a dark and stormy summer night in the outskirts of the city of Ecto Valley. And near those outskirts was a small mansion of famous Professor Humphrey Bumble. A warehouse and huge field also accompanied his humble home. But that's beside the point.

Anyway, if you have ever heard of the scientist, Professor Bumble, he was the famous innovator of the Flying House; A house that could not only fly, but also travel through time. He was accompanied by his faithful robot named, SIR [Solar Ion Robot].

Anyway, that night Professor Bumble and SIR were designing blueprints for their latest invention yet. And it looked like it was certainly the best they've done.

"Well SIR, I think this new invention is going to turn out just fine." The Professor proudly said.

"What about you're other inventions in the past? None of them seem to work." SIR commented.

"Don't be such a smarty pants. I'm sure with this new project; I may very well revolutionize technology."

"You mean 'we.'" SIR corrected him.

What kind of project were the Professor and SIR were working on? Is it really going to be revolutionary in the history of flying? Only they would know the answers to that.

In the meantime, something strange was occurring. A small black van had pulled up to their mansion with men coming out. They approached the front door slowly.

"Should we go inside?" One of them asked.

"You know the boss. He wants them alive." One of them said.

Simultaneously, the Professor was hard at work and thinking about the good times that he and SIR had with their friends. "I wish everybody was here to see this. I remember when we used to hang with the old gang in the Flying House."

"Me too. According to my memory bank—" Before SIR could continue on, a knock was heard at the front door.

"Who is it?" Professor Bumble asked as he approached the front door.

"Special surprise delivery for a 'Humphrey Bumble.' One of them said.

The Professor was piqued. "Special surprise delivery? That's preposterous. SIR, did you order anything under my name again?"

"No."

"Well, whoever you are, we didn't order anything." He said as he opened the door.

"That's okay. All it is, is just some pizza." One of them said as they opened the pizza box revealing knock out gas. The Professor was immediately surprised by the gas and tried covering his mouth.

"Oh no! SIR, it's gas. You better—" But it was took late, the gas took affect and knocked him out.

SIR was surprised at what he saw. "Oh no! What is a Solar Ion Robot to do?" He then spotted a telephone and ran over to try to contact somebody. "I must call the local authorities." But before he could reach for the phone, a gun was fired and the phone was destroyed. SIR was surprised that the gun missed him. The men then grabbed SIR and tied him up. "What is the meaning of this?" He demanded. But they didn't respond. As they took them away, they also took the blueprints of Professor Bumble's designs.

And before they left, a shadowy figure entered the room. He was different from the other men. He had an eye patch on his right eye, and had a metal hand made of iron. And it was sharp to the point, as if it were a claw. "Don't worry about the delivery. We'll make sure you're surprised when you met our leader." He remarked. "Take them away, boys."

Before you knew it, they threw the tied up Professor and SIR inside the car and drove away.

This is madness. Who would dare kidnap the Professor and SIR? And what's the big surprise that stranger was talking about?

**5 days later; 1:16 PM**

It was a beautiful summer morning in the city of Ecto Valley. This is the city where technology booms. It's also the city that's filled with tourism of newcomers each year as gaze at the wonders of this glorious town. Unfortunately, there's also a dark side that lurks inside the city streets. Inside, parts of this city are filled with crime, corruption, grime and a sense of urban decay in some parts of the city. But it's also filled with plentiful suburban life, with suburban folk that visit this perplexing town. And who else would be present within this city other than our faithful friend, Christopher Peeper?

Yup, he too was in this city. What he was doing, you ask? Well, our young and brave teenager was high up on a building as he was preparing to perform one of the best skate stunts in history, at least in his opinion. And his little cousin, Uriah was at his side preparing to record it with a camera.

"As the brave and resourceful, Christopher Peeper prepares for the most death-defying stunt of all time; he makes sure that the weather is perfect. The wind is at his back, the updraft is perfect and not a cloud in the sky." He said to himself.

Uri was trying to get the camera operating properly with his little hands. After all, he didn't know too much about cameras at his age. "How come I have to be the one who has to record everything?"

"Stop your complaining Uri. This needs to be recorded for future generations. I'm about to perform the greatest trick of all time. I'm going to skate jump to that building right over there."

"But it's too far away. How are you gonna do it?"

"Simple. I'm going to skate down this ramp and then jump and perform a 360 degree aerial kick flip and make it to the other side. It'll be a piece of cake."

"Ah Phooey. How about helping me use your camera?" Uri remarked

Knowing that Uri didn't know too much about cameras, Chris quickly went over to him and helped him a little. "Alright. Alright. All you have to do is press this red button to record and this triangular button to pause. Got it?"

"Got it." Uri nodded. After the short instruction, Christopher climbed up the tall ramp so he could get to the top and prepare his skate trick.

In the meantime, a familiar somebody was below them in the streets coming out of a little store. Who could it be? Why none other than Christopher Peeper's best friend in the world (not to mention the girl next door), Joy of course. She was walking around trying to figure out where Chris wanted her to meet him. "According to Chris' note, he wants me to meet him and Uriah at the corner of Aykroyd Ave and Murray Boulevard." She pondered to herself. "Well, I'm here but I don't see them anywhere. Unless…" At that moment, she had found Christopher's motorcycle parked next to one of the buildings. That's when she figured out where Chris and Uri were. "So that's where they are. I wonder what Christopher's up to today." She asked herself.

So without hesitating, she went inside and made it to the top floor of the building where Christopher and Uri were waiting for her. When she got up to the top floor, she was surprised at what she saw. "Hi everyone. What's going on?" She greeted them.

Chris was happy to see his best friend. "Glad you could make it, Joy."

Uri waved. "Hey Joy. Christopher's going to perform a big stunt over that building."

Joy was intrigued yet concerned. "Really? But what if you get hurt, Chris? Don't you think that's dangerous?"

"Don't worry Joy. It's just like what you and my dad told me: If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." He said.

"But if he gets himself killed, I get to call dibs on his room." Uri said.

"In your dreams, Uri." Chris remarked. He then plopped on his skateboard and was about to skate down that ramp. "Ok. Ready or not, here I go!" He shouted as he skated down the ramp. As he skated down the tall ramp, he began to pick up more speed.

Joy was worried that he wasn't going to get across in one piece. But she kept her chin up and hoped for the best. "Please work out in the end." She said to herself.

"Christopher won't be working for a while if he loses." Uri commented.

After Chris gained more speed, he then jumped off the ramp performed a 360-degree Ollie in midair. And before you knew it, he made it to the other building across the street in one piece. Both Joy and Uriah were filled awe and were amazed at his stunt. They couldn't believe their eyes. They didn't know that Christopher Peeper had it in him.

"Wow. I did it. I did it. I finally did something I'm good at!" Chris cheered. Quickly, Joy and Uri hurried over to the building where Christopher successfully skateboarded across and went up to the top floor to see him. "Did you guys see that? Wasn't that amazing?"  
"I saw it Chris. But…" Uri said.

"But what?"

Uri was embarrassed. "I forgot to record it."

"What?! I can't believe it. That's the first stunt I perform on my summer vacation and you forget to record it. Oh, and I spent weeks preparing for that trick."

"What do you think, Joy?" Uri asked. But Joy said nothing. She just stood there amazed at Chris. "Well, don't you think that was dangerous and reckless?" He asked her again.

"Christopher," She said. "That was the most amazing trick you ever did. And it wasn't even fake. It was real." She was never more excited in her days to see Chris do something that challenging.

Knowing how Joy was happy seeing him for what he did, Chris turned the other cheek "Well, at least somebody saw it. Thanks Joy."

Uri was looking down to see if anybody else saw it. "I don't think anybody else down there saw it." He said.

Chris was surprised that nobody else noticed. "And I thought we were in the age of media glut. Oh well." He shrugged.

Indeed nobody did see Chris perform that amazing stunt, not even the police (lucky him). However, Uriah did see something strange down happening down nearby a famous jewelry store. In fact, there were some armed robbers that were making their way outta there with a box in one of their hands.

"Thanks for the special discount, ladies and gentlemen. And I don't want any trouble from any of you, you hear? Not even that old man, Merlock House can stop us." The armed robber said. And before you knew it, they got into the car and drove away.

Quickly, Uri alerted Chris and Joy immediately. "Hey. Wait a minute. I do see something down there."

"What is it, Uriah?" Joy asked.

"Looks like some guys are doing their grocery shopping."

Chris was confused at what Uri suggested. "Grocery shopping?"

"Yeah. Look down there."

Christopher quickly got out a pair of binoculars to get a glance at what was going on down there. That's when he spotted the robbers making a clean getaway. "Uri, those aren't shoppers. They're robbers."

"Oh. I forgot. What should we do?"

"I don't know about you, but I gotta see this for myself."

Before Chris could leave, Joy interrupted him. "Chris, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going after those guys."

"Don't you think that's dangerous?"

"Don't worry. It's something that Detective [Merlock] House would do."

"If that's the way you want it, then I'm coming with you." She insisted.

"Me too." Uri added.

"You can't come." Chris said.

"Why not?" Joy asked.

"Because it's way too dangerous."

"Isn't that what I asked you?"

"Yeah. But it's just that I don't want you guys getting into trouble."

Joy rolled her eyes. "I see."

"But what you can do to help is let House know what just happened. And don't worry. He'll come." Then Chris left and headed in the robbers' direction without being seen. When he got to the edge of the building, he climbed up a small flagpole and grabbed on to a coat hanger on a clothesline and slid down to the next building. Down below him were some kids playing jump rope and they didn't seem to pay any attention to what he was doing.

Joy looked to see where he was heading. She did seem a bit worried. "I really wish he'd find better ways of handling things. I hope he knows what he's doing." She said to herself.

"We should do what he told us, right?" Uri asked.

Joy nodded. "Right."

And just like that, Joy and Uri left to find the detective, named Merlock House to let him know of the robbery they saw.

In the meantime, let's check back on our friend Christopher. He was following those robbers to their secret hideout in a small warehouse. Luckily, Chris had higher ground with a bird's eye view of what was going on down there. So he wasn't seen.

Anyway, when they pulled up to the warehouse, they dashed inside so that they weren't spotted with what they stole. But unbeknownst to them, Christopher Peeper was peeping in on what they were doing. He climbed up to the top and then carefully climbed inside to spy on what they were doing.

The men had gathered around a small table as the leader proudly presented them the box that he and his men stolen. "This is it, fellas. This is the key to our future." He proclaimed.

"Why is it, Dom?" One of them asked.

"I don't know. But the boss said that this would lead us to riches beyond our dreams, but not beyond his. And pretty soon, with our cooperation, he'll become the most powerful and wealthiest man in the world."

Everybody was filled with awe. "Oh boy. I can't wait." One of them said.

Christopher had heard what they said and was curious to what they meant. "Wealthiest? What could he mean by that?" He asked himself. He looked around to see if he could spot anything useful, probably to get a closer peep at that box, if you know what I mean. "Oh well, make your move." He thought.

In the meantime, one of the men had a question for Dom. "But Dom, shouldn't we keep this more hidden. What if House is looking for us?"

"Come on. House is an old bag. It's not like he or anybody else is gonna swoop down and grab this box right out of our hands." Dom said with pride.

Funny he should say something like that. Point in case? Christopher Peeper swooped down on a rope and grabbed the box and jumped down right on the ground. "For me? Awe, you shouldn't of." He remarked as he ran away.

"Well, it was nothing really." Dom said, only to realize that the box was being stolen from his possession. "Hey wait a minute! Stop that kid!"

Christopher ran up the stairs only to have Dom and those robbers chasing him. As he got to the top, they were hot on his trail as they ran up. But quickly thinking, Chris found some barrels and released them. Barrel by barrel, they fell down and crashed right on the bad guys, which threw the bad guys off course. Christopher then got out his skateboard, skated off and grinded down the stair handlebar and headed for his exit. The next thing you knew, Christopher was loose on the street with the box in his hands.

Dom and company were dizzy, but that didn't stop them. They got back on their feet and headed for their car to chase Chris. "After him. After that peeper." Dom said. They drove and followed Chris' trail. Looks like it was the chase of the lifetime. Will Chris get the evidence back to this detective named Merlock House on time? Or will he only get himself into more trouble?

In the meantime, let's check back on Joy and Uri. They were searching for Merlock until they found him driving down the street. And as usual, the old yet cunning detective was on the lookout for anything suspicious.

"Come in House. We've just received word from Eye witnesses that there was a robbery at a jewelry store at the corner of Egon Drive and Murray Boulevard." One of the policemen contacted him via walkie-talkie.

House immediately picked it up to contact. "Does anybody know what they stole?" He asked.

"Nothing but a box. House, this doesn't seem right. Isn't it silly somebody would just waltz in and just take one small box?"

"Unless something in that box was important." House postulated.

"Come on House. Don't you think that's silly?"

"Don't you think you need to shut up right now and tell me where they went?" He remarked.

The policeman sighed. "Nobody knows Merlock. This is one big city. Nobody's just gonna give you a hint right in front of you."

That's when House saw Joy and Uri waving at him as he was driving by. "Or maybe they will. House over and out." He remarked. He then pulled up by them to ask them.

"Hey, I've seen you guys before. What's up?" He greeted them.

"Nice to meet you, House." Uri said.

House took a moment to try to remember who they were. "You must be Uriah and you're Joy. And…didn't you have a boyfriend with you?" Both Uri and Joy were surprised that House didn't recognize them. "Just kidding." He said.

At that moment, they were relieved and told House about what they saw. "Anyway, we know where those robbers went. We just saw them drive in the southern east direction." Joy said.

"Lemme guess. You're boyfriend—"

"And my cousin." Uri added.

"Right. You're boyfriend [and his cousin] Christopher Peeper is after them to take back what they stole. Am I right?" He hypothesized.

Joy chuckled. "You are Merlock House, after all."

"It's always the Peeper. Hope in gang. I need you to be my navigators. But remember, this could be dangerous."

And so, they were off to find Christopher and the robbers that were after him. It wasn't before long Uri saw him skateboarding down their direction. He was coming down fast. "Hey look. That must be Christopher right now." He said.

Christopher came skating up the rear of Merlock's car and grabbed on. House was slowing down, but Chris warned him not to, for the bad guys were about to reach them. "Don't slow down! They're right behind us." He shouted.

Merlock looked into his rearview mirror and saw Dominic and his men driving up to them. Dom was annoyed to find that House had gotten involved. "It's that jerk weed House. He'll ruin everything. I better take care of him." He said as he got out his pistol.

Before long, it turned into an old fashion car chase. Normally, it would be the police chasing the bad guy. But now it's the other way around. And they were hot on their tail. Chris held on to the moving vehicle as tight as he could, while holding on to the box he was carrying.

Dom was hanging out the window of the car trying to shoot at our heroes and House as well. House was having a hard time shaking them. "These guys are harder to shake than ticks on a dog. Oh boy. This was a whole lot easier when I was a whole lot younger." He said to himself.

Joy was worried of what would happen. "What do we do?" She asked.

"I'm gonna have to call for backup." House said as he got out his radio to contact other officers. "All standing units. Please report. I'm being attacked by Dom Bell and his men down Murray Boulevard. And three witnesses are with me right now."

Immediately, an officer contacted House but was surprised at what he heard. "Three witnesses aboard? House, are you crazy?"

"Crazy? They're friends. I'm trying to save their lives especially that kid Christopher Peeper who's hanging on the rear of the car."

"Christopher Peeper? Isn't he Professor Peeper's kid?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They live in the suburbs of the city; the house just down the street and around the corner."

"Whatever House. More active police units are on their way. Over and out."

After Merlock ended the transmission with the officer, he quickly turned the corner with Christopher hanging on. Then House unlocked the back door with the door trigger so that Christopher could get inside.

The bullets started flying near Chris and he was doing the best he could to dodge them. "Uh oh. Time to get out of the storm." He said to himself as he reached for back door to open it. Before you knew it, Christopher was inside the car safe and sound with the box inside.

"Hey kid. Nice to see you again in one piece." House greeted him.

"And I took back what those guys stole." Chris said.

"Good job, kid. Now all we have to do is get outta here."

"How?" Chris asked.

"Let's see if these bastards can reach 90." House said as he shifted gears. Before long, they were speeding away and were out of reach for Dom Bell and his men.

While Dom and his men weren't able to keep up, other police officers caught up with them and surrounded them. "Oh no, it's the cops!" He said. "We better get outta here." Unfortunately, they were too late.

In the meantime, House then turned around and returned to the scene where the bad guys were surrounded. He slowly got out of his car and walked over to his fellow officers, with the help of his cane. He grabbed out a megaphone to get the villains attentions. "Stay behind, guys. This is police work." He told Chris, Joy and Uri as they watched behind the lines.

"Give it up, Dom. Most of the top officers are here. We know what you're after, so come out with your hands up." He warned them.

"You'll never take me alive, House!" Dom shouted.

"There's only 5 of you, and about 10 of us. Face it, Dom. We got you outnumbered."

"Wrong House. Soon there's gonna be one less of you once you have your little retirement. After that, it's gonna be me and all my friends all over your god forsaken city."

"Cut it out Dom. Either I'm gonna have to count to ten, or these officers here are gonna shoot you. And we don't want any blood stains on the city today."

"Give me a break. You're a few days away from retirement. I know you want to do it."

One of the officers seemed nervous. "House this is gonna get outta hand. What do we do?"

"Don't worry Max. Send in the hounds" He commanded.

Without warning, police dogs were released and they chased Dom away. "Hey. Get back!" Dom ran as fast as he could away from the dogs and away from the cops. "This isn't over, House. I'll be back you hear?" And Dom was no longer seen.

"And don't come back again." Chris shouted, with Uri making a face taunting Dom.

"You letting him get away?" Officer Max asked.

"Don't worry. We got the men behind him, while he gets to live. Besides, we got what they stole back. But we'll get Dom one day."

---

Later that day, everybody had regrouped back to police headquarters. Detective Merlock House was celebrating another crime solved along with the help of Christopher, Joy and Uri.

"Way to go, detective." Officer Max congratulated him.

"Awe it was nothing. Compared to my other cases, this was a snap." He said.

"I see. Just trying to make us cops look bad before he retires." Another officer joked.

"Very funny Wager."

After House finished up being congratulated by his fellow officers, he rejoined Chris, Joy and Uri to thank them for their participation. "You kids did good work today. Especially you, Christopher."

"Oh it was nothing. After all, I probably wouldn't have gotten far without the help of my friends." Chris said.

House chuckled. "True."

"Mr. House. Is it true you're planning to retire soon?" Uri asked.

"You betcha. Soon I'm gonna be hanging up my hat and badge real soon."

"What's gonna happen to law and order in the city?" Joy asked.

"Don't worry. In fact, I've been considering finding me some young trainees to take my place. You guys interested?"

Chris was excited "Really? You'll teach us?"

"Yeah. First thing tomorrow, I'll be starting my personal detective training courses for anybody who's interested."

"That's great House. We promise we'll be the first ones there. And we won't let you down." Joy said.

"Am I allowed to come to?" Uri asked.

"Sure you are, sprout. It's for all ages."

"Oh boy. I'm gonna be catching bad guys and putting people behind bars."

House chuckled. "We'll cover that some other time. But you'll do fine."

Chris checked his watched and noticed it was time to go. "We better get going House. We got some other plans for the day. But we'll be here tomorrow."

"See you later guys. I'll be here all week."

"Bye House." Our heroes bid farewell as they left.

---

Later that day, Christopher, Joy and Uri were sitting on the edge of an apartment building where they were just sitting their and reflecting on the day and the future of becoming detectives. They were even having some ice cream to go along with it.

"You did great today, Chris." Joy complimented him.

Chris wasn't paying attention; he just sat there thinking. "Yeah."

Joy was piqued by what he was thinking. "What's on your mind, Chris?" She asked.

"I'm just thinking about we can do together if take this detective thing." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that… there's so many places and many people we could meet, yet most of our lives, we're still stuck here in this town; our home."

Uri rolled his eyes. "Awe, you just wanna drive."

"I'm serious. I'm bored with just doing the same old thing all the time. It'll be good that we try being detectives. It'll give us the chance to see the world. And not just do kid stuff like we used to."

"I wanna see it all, too. You know, I was a little afraid at first. But I remembered something." Joy said.

"What's that?" Chris asked.

"No matter where I go or where I am, I know we'll never be apart. We'll still remain apart of each other's heart."

"You're right, Joy. Our hearts are connected."

Uri was confused. "Connected? Does that mean my heart has a cord that connects to you both?"

Joy chuckled. "No silly. It means that we'll still inside your heart, even if you're alone."

"Really? Even if we're apart?"

Joy nodded. "Really."

Chris looked at a sign showing the time, figuring it was time to go. "Well, we better get back home."

As they were about to leave, Joy put her arms around Chris tightly and Uri climbed up and hung onto his shoulders. He was taking a little shortcut back to the ground below. With Joy and Uri hanging on, Chris took hold of a coat hanger that was hanging on a wire and slid down to the top of a smaller building. After that, they climbed down and then hopped on Chris' motorcycle. Chris then revved the engine and then drove him and his friends back home.

---

Meanwhile, in a back alley, a familiar face was seen running down. Why, it was Dom Bell, nevertheless. Yup, House had this criminal on the run without anybody to help him. But as he was walking down the alley, he was about to run into somebody.

"Oh boy. The boss isn't gonna like this. Maybe I should give up now while I have a chance." He said to himself.

Just then, another familiar figure came out of the shadows. Why, it was that same guy with the claw who kidnapped Professor Bumble and SIR. "You should've given up years ago, you moronic imbecile." He said.

Dom Bell was surprised to see him. "Iron Claw! Uh, what are you doing here?"

"I came to check up on you. It looks like you failed again, did you?"

"Uh, gee Claw. I don't see why you should be upset. Sure I might've lost the ruby to that bozo House, but look at it this way. It's at police headquarters where I can steal it again, right?"

"Oh sure." Iron Claw sarcastically remarked. "You suggest you should go steal the ruby, when every police officer in Ecto 'Friggin' Valley is on the hunt for you!" He shouted.

Dom Bell was embarrassed. "Uh, I didn't think of that. Uh, should we tell the boss?"

"Forget it. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

"You mean, you're gonna steal it?"

"Of course not, you bafoon! You know I'm smarter than that, unlike yourself. I'm gonna have to find somebody else to steal it for me; somebody who can strike anytime, anywhere and anyplace without being noticed. And I think I just know who."

Who was it that Iron Claw was referring to? Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Then again, perhaps not. We're just gonna have to wait and find out.

**Later that day; 4:18 PM**

It was a beautiful summer afternoon at the house just down the street and around the corner. Christopher, Joy and Uriah were just returning home, and life was going on as usual at home.

"We're home." Chris said as they went through the doorway.

Just then, that little dog named Ruffles came running down towards them. "Hi, Ruffles. Did you miss us?" Uri said.

"Miss you indeed." A familiar voice said. Who would've thought it? It was Professor Fred Peeper. And he seemed to be a bit upset.

"Oh, hi dad. We were just coming back from, uh…,"  
"The Park. He meant to say we're coming back from the park." Joy said.

"Is that so? Then how come the television here is telling me something else otherwise?" He said as turned on the TV set covering the news report on what happened earlier.

"This is ENN's Joseph Williams coming to live. Earlier today, we witnessed brave police work as 'soon to retire' Detective Merlock House foiled a robbery attempt by Dom Bell. However, it wasn't just fellow police officers that help him. Witnesses say that a young man named Christopher Peeper, son of famous archaeologist, Fred Peeper, was the one who brought home the goods back to Merlock House."

To Chris and Joy's chagrin, the Professor was ashamed. "I'm surprised of you both." He said as he turned off the TV. "First you lie about where you were and I find you were in the city again? And to think, you brought poor Uri along with you."

"But dad—" Chris said.

"Don't 'but dad' me. You know it's dangerous in the city."

"But Uncle Freddie. Detective House saved us from the bad guys who were trying to shoot us." Uri said innocently.

The Professor was surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. He just drove really fast and outran the bad guys before they got what was coming to them."

The Professor's attitude and expression changed. "Well, I guess there are still good people in that city. I guess I am in debt to House this time."

"That won't be necessary dad." Chris said. "We're gonna see him tomorrow to learn how to become official detectives."

"He's gonna teach us." Uri added.

"Is that so?" Professor Peeper asked.

"It's the truth." Joy said.

"So can we go, please?" Chris asked.

The Professor was uncertain. "I don't know."

Just then, another familiar voice called out. "Come on brother. Give those kids a chance. It'll be a fresh learning experience." He said. It was none other than, Ken Peeper; Christopher's uncle, Uri's dad and the Professor's brother. "After all, I think detective work is a great idea."

"I'm all for detective work. But not if it involves them constantly going into the city on there own."

"Oh come on. You go there all the time."

"That's because I have important things to do there as well as have good relations with the mayor."

"Big deal. I work for Cyberden and have business in the city too."

"You know, he's right dad. You and Uncle Ken both have business involved in the city. I mean, he has his computer business and you have your studies." Chris commented.

Realizing Chris was right, the Professor made up his mind. "Oh alright. If it really does mean that much to you, Uri and Joy, then you can go."

"Thanks dad. You're the best." Chris said as he patted him on the back.

"Since you made it home Chris, I need your help with something." Uncle Ken asked.

"What is it, Uncle?" Chris asked as he and his friends walked upstairs.

"It's my latest invention. I'm almost done with it, but I need your help putting the finishing touches on it."

"You mean its Gizmo?" Uri asked.

"Sorry Uri. Gizmo's not done yet with his upgrade. After all, he's at Cyberden being worked."

Uri was disappointed. "I forgot."

"But don't worry. You'll have plenty of fun with this new invention."

As they went into the computer room, Uncle Ken unveiled his latest invention. "Ta da!"

"Is that a robot?" Joy asked.

"Sure is, Joy. I call him the PollyTech2500. He's the first android parrot equipped with robotics as well as good human/cyborg relations. I designed him especially for you kids. After all, we're in the age of technology."

"What needs to be touched up?" Chris asked.

"I'm having a hard time connecting the wires inside. So I figured that someone with good eyesight, like you, would be able to connect it."

"Think you can do it, Chris?" Uri asked.

"It can't be that hard." Chris said as he went to get a closer look at the wires. As he looked, he noticed a pattern of colors that could signify what the problem was. "I think I know what the problem is. Shouldn't these coloring wires be connected to the same color each?"

"Precisely."

"Ok. Here goes nothing." Chris said as he reached his hand inside to connect the wires. Wire by wire he connected them carefully, until the yellow, green and blue wires were connected. "Perfect."

"Now all you have to do is press these buttons and he's alive."

"Right." Chris then pressed the buttons on the PollyTech2500's stomach and the next thing you knew it, the robot was coming to life and was fully functional. Everybody was surprised at how he was coming to life.

"Wooiee! Where is this feeling of power derive, Acme?" He remarked.

"Wow. That's amazing." Joy said.

The PollyTech2500 looked around to see his environment. "Greetings humans. I'm the PollyTech2500. And boy, what it took for me to be programmed of all nights. I'm missing Cheers."

"What else can he do, daddy?" Uri asked.

"Not only can he interact with you but he can detect his environment for miles. That's why I figured he could be a good asset to you guys when you become detectives." Ken said.

The parrot flew around the room to interact with our heroes. "Say kid. Those are some nice threads you're wearing. Who's your tailor, Michael Jackson?" He sarcastically asked Chris.

"You really think I'm cool?" Chris asked.

"Sure kid. But I've met cooler people in my days."

Chris felt insulted. "Hey."

The PollyTech2500 then noticed Joy. "Humana Humana Humana! What are you doing here in a town like this? You're so gorgeous that you could play the Princess Peach in the Mario Bros musical and guest star on the Tonight show."

Joy blushed. "Really?"

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." He remarked and then laughed.

This insulted both Chris and Joy. "Hey. You can't talk to her like that." Chris scolded him.

"Kid, this is what you're doing. This is what I want you to do." The robot said as he used his winged hand to demonstrate shutting up.

The wisecracks amused Uri. "Haha. He's funny."

"And you're not. What a coincidence." PT remarked.

Now Uriah was insulted. "Hey."

"Hmm, what else does this house have?" The robot asked himself as he flew out of the room to look around the Peeper's residence. Chris and the others followed him to make he wasn't gonna do anything stupid. That's when they found him examining a vase that belonged to the Professor.

"What are you doing?" The Professor asked.

"Ah, an antique vase. Attracts dust like a magnet." The PollyTech remarked. He picked it up and then the next thing you knew, he dropped it on the ground and it broke.

"My vase!" The Professor shouted.

"Problem solved."

"Oh, look what you did to my valuable antique."

"As the famous Launchpad McQuack once said, 'At least it wasn't brand new.'" The PollyTech2500 remarked.

"I guess he still has a few bugs that need to be worked on." Ken commented.

"That's not all he needs working on, if you ask me." Chris remarked.

The Professor was pretty upset with the mess the robot made. "Hey Professor. Why the long face?" The PollyTech asked.

"You should know you mechanical monstrosity. You broke my vase."

"Here's a word of advice, old man. You got $15,000 with your name on it. Do the family a favor and get your wife some cooking lessons."

The Professor was angered. "Why you little—!"

"Is there a way to turn him off?" Joy asked.

"I'm afraid there isn't. Unlike Gizmo, he can't run out of power." Ken said.

Chris, Joy and Uri were surprised. "You mean, we're stuck with him?" Uri asked.

"I can rework him, but it's going to be a while before I find a way."

"Just perfect. Now we have to bear with him for the rest of our lives." Uri remarked.

"You guessed right, my friend. Bear and grin it." PollyTech remarked.

The Professor was annoyed but he did his best not to let the PollyTech's remarks get to him. "This robot my brother created is much more troublesome than Christopher. Humph. I'd rather be facing the Dalton brothers than deal with this." He thought to himself.

---

As trouble was being dealt with back home, something else was lurking back in the city of Ecto Valley. Something so unusual that it lurked right in the city prison. Point it case, the Dalton Brothers. Yup, these guys are the most wanted in the city. They're known for theft, robbery, littering, and hijacking. They're great in numbers, but inside this prison at least four of them were inside scheming on what to do next.

"Well boys, as far as I can figure, we've must've robbed every bank in Ecto Valley at least 50 times each." They're leader[and brother] Stinky said as he drew lines counting the number of times.

"How many banks did we rob?" Dinky asked.

"What do I look like, a calculator?!" Stinky shouted.

"We just got to get outta here soon now! I hate prison!" Finky whined.

"Oh you Dalton brothers will get outta here soon. Once you pay your debts to society for the next 20 years." A guard remarked as he passed by.

"Oh yeah? Once we get outta here, we're gonna pay you a punch in the face." Finky said.

"Take it easy chap. I came here to bring you something. And it looks like somebody wants to sweeten your disposition. Enjoy." The guard said as he gave them a present.

"I hope it's my special edition of 'Good House-Keeping.' This place is a mess." Pinky said.

Dinky opened the box and it revealed what appeared to be explosives disguised as bon bons. But he didn't realize that they really were grenades, he was just happy that they were food. "Oh boy. Bon Bons. My favorite snack." He said. He swallowed one and the next thing you knew; an explosion erupted inside his stomach.

"Gesundheit." The guard said as he left.

Pinky realized what they really were, so he went along with the fib. "Eh, thank you." He quickly grabbed Stinky and Finky and the four brothers formed a huttle. "Those aren't bon bons, boys. Those are boom booms." He whispered

"You mean somebody's trying to spring us outta here?" Finky asked.

"Maybe." Stinky said as he looked at the note that was inside the present. "There's a note inside."

"What does it say?" Finky asked.

"It reads, '_Use these to escape tonight, then meet me at the old abandoned 'Sunny N Shade' apartment buildings. Signed, Iron Claw.'_" Stinky read.

"I have no idea who this rotten dresser, Iron Claw is. But I sure like his style." Pinky said.

---

**Later that night 7:17 PM**

Sunset was approaching fast. And everybody at the house just down the street and around the corner was getting pretty fed up with the PollyTech2500. He just wouldn't shut up.

"Man, what a house. It's the type of house that Bruce Wayne shouldn't live in." The parrot remarked again as he flew around the house.

"Come back here!" Uncle Ken shouted as he chased him.

"You'll never take me alive, Peeper! This bird you cannot change!"

Chris, Joy and Uri were watching at much of Uncle Ken's chagrin. Chris and Joy decided that they've seen enough. "Oh look at the time. We'll I better get going." Joy said as she started to leave.

"Ditto. I'll walk Joy home." Chris nodded.

"Lucky." Uri remarked.

As the parrot continued to create a mess of the Peeper's residence, Christopher was walking Joy home. As they walked, they continued to reflect and talk about life. Wasn't it nice they finally got some time alone?

"A robotic parrot that won't shut up; what will my uncle think of next?" Chris remarked.

Joy chuckled. "Who knows. You always said he was the 'important computer man.'"

"Maybe a little too important." Chris said.

Just then, something else was on Joy's mind. "You know, nothing around here has changed."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"Well, hmm…."

"You okay?"

"Chris, why don't we leave for Merlock House right now and get that detective training—just the two of us."

Chris was bewildered. "What?"

Joy chuckled. "Just kidding."

"What's up with you? You're the one whose changed, Joy."

"I guess. Maybe we both have. Every time we hang out, it's like we're becoming completely different people."

Chris smiled and nodded. "Yeah. You've become more smarter."

Joy smiled. "And your becoming the person I want you to be. Christopher, don't ever 'change.'"

"I won't."

"I just can't wait. Once we start working together as detectives, it'll be great."

"Yeah. It won't just be another fantasy."

After they finished their conversation, they made it to her home and said their goodbyes. "See you tomorrow." She waved.

"Tomorrow for sure." Chris said as he waved.

After Joy made it inside her home, Christopher walked back to the house just down the street and around the corner, with a smile on his face. It was nice of Chris to be watching over Joy like that, wasn't it? I guess they're more than just friends. And who knows what fate has in store for them tomorrow.

---

**11:34 PM; City prison**

Everything was going according to plan. At least until the Daltons were about to make there secret grand escape out of prison. You see, they set up the bombs perfectly aligned on their wall and then they lit the match and waited for the kaboom to go off and make their exit. Before you knew it, the wall exploded and the Daltons were free as a bird. The explosion sounded the alarm, but that didn't stop them. They ran out of their cell and quickly ran towards the city where they would meet the infamous, Iron Claw.

**Later that night; Sunny N Shade apartments**

The Dalton brothers had made it to the abandoned Sunny N Shade apartment buildings in the municipal district of the town. They were looking around to see where this Iron Claw fellow was.

"Why did this Iron Claw pick such a creepy place to hold a meeting?" Dinky said, trembling with fear.

"I don't know. But if he's messing with us, we're gonna teach him what happens when he messes with the Daltons." Stinky said.

"Especially if he's a rotten dresser."

"Easy gentlemen." Iron Claw's voice was heard. Before you knew it, he appeared right behind them from the shadows of the run down building. "I take it you're the Dalton gang."

Slowly, the gang turned around to meet him. "I'm Dinky."

"I'm Pinky.

"I'm Finky."  
"And I'm Stinky. We're the Dalton gang. What is it you want with us? And why did you spring us?"

"Relax gentlemen. I have a special job for you to take care of."

"What do you want us to do?" Finky asked.

"You men can strike anytime and anywhere. You see, I want you to steal something from that blasted Detective, Merlock House."

"You want us to rob him?" Dinky asked.

"Something like that. I want you to make his life a living nightmare."

"We'll do it. Just tell us what to do, and we'll make that rotten dresser's day." Pinky said.

"Excellent." Iron Claw said with a smile.

Uh oh. Looks like Iron Claw and the Daltons are joining forces. And it's a scheme against Detective Merlock House. I wonder what it could be….

---

**Police Headquarters: 1:26 AM**

Some officers were arriving home late to be with their families. Likewise, House was leaving, while some officers were still on duty.

"Goodnight fellas." He said as he tipped his hat. "I'm gonna be heading home earlier than I expected tonight."

"Goodnight House." Officer Wager said as House left for the night.

As House was walking down the street towards his car, minding his own business, not too far off were some familiar strangers with newspapers covering their faces. After House went inside his car and drove away, they uncovered their faces, revealing to be none other than the Dalton brothers. And they had disguises on to, so that nobody would notice them for who they really are. Dinky and Pinky were disguised as father and mother; Finky as a baby; and Stinky as a little boy.

"Why did Iron Claw want us to do it now?" Finky asked.

"Because, most of the cops are heading home; especially that Merlock bum. And with that pesky House out of the way, we'll be able to get that box behind his back and then frame him." Stinky said.

"It'll be just like taking candy from a baby. Only this time we'll be giving him something that'll set him up for sure." Pinky said.

"Right." Finky nodded.

"You got the dud, Dinky?" Stinky asked.

"Sure thing." Dinky said as he took of his hat, revealing a replica box, airplane tickets and gambling IOUs. And those were all in Houses' name!

"Then let's go!" Stinky said.

The Daltons then walked inside police headquarters, hoping that they wouldn't be discovered. But quite likely, they acted like naturals.

Without warning, Pinky pretended to faint with Dinky catching him from falling. "Oh no! My poor wife has fainted!" Dinky fibbed.

"Wah!" Finky whined.

Quickly, Stinky and Finky went inside to inform some officers. "Mr. Policeman! Mr. Policeman! Our mommy fainted and needs assistance."

"Holy Crap. That's the fourth this week. Come on, men we better take a look at her!" Officer Max said. And the officers hurried to what looked like Pinky fainting, while Stinky and Finky snuck away from them.

"Now's our chance. Finky, you look inside the chief's office for that box, while I implant the bait." Stinky said.

"You got it." Finky said as he crawled to the chief's office. Inside he crawled underneath the desk, while the chief was sleeping on the job and with the radio on. Inside his 'diaper', were some tools for opening desks underneath. After he drilled away, underneath the desk came the box and it landed right into his hands. He snickered and then crawled away quietly so that he wouldn't be noticed.

In the meantime, Stinky looked around to see if there were any officers around Merlock's desk Lucky for him, there weren't any. He then implanted the fake box inside House's drawer, and left the gambling IOUs and airplane tickets on his front desk. After that, he walked away quietly to check back with Pinky and Dinky.

"Uh, how's he...I mean...she doing officer?" Stinky asked.

"We'll just give her some water." The officer said as he gave the cross-dressed Pinky a drink.

After that, Pinky opened his eyes and pretended to show consciousness. "Why thank you, sweet officer of the law. How can I ever repay you?" He fibbed.

"By drinking plenty of liquids. You gave us quite a scare ma'am." Officer Max advised.

"Oh no, look at the time 'dad.' We gotta get going. Don't we have a family meeting with

'Dr. Ron?'" Stinky nudged Dinky.

Dinky took the hint and decided it was time to go. "Oh yeah. We gotta get going officers. Thank you again." Dinky said.

"Have a good night folks." Officer Wager said as the 'family' left.

"Bye bye!" They waved goodbye.

After they left the building, the quickly walked over to a hideout in an alley somewhere so they could wait to see what develops.

"Why are we waiting here?" Dinky asked.

"Iron Claw wants us to make sure that rotten dresser Merlock gets what's coming to him." Pinky said.

"First thing tomorrow, we check back to see if he got 'it.' Hehe, I love being a Dalton." Finky said.

--- 

**The next day 10:04 AM; suburban area**

As usual the day begins with our favorite friends from just down the street and around the corner. Our friends, Christopher and Uriah Peeper were fast asleep on a beautiful summer day. But what's this? The PollyTech 2500 has plans in store for our heroes.

What could it be, you ask? Well, he flew right inside Chris' room and landed near the side of his bed, while Chris was asleep. What do you think he was up to?

"Psssss. Hey you." He whispered.

Chris(with his eyes closed) heard the voice, not knowing what to expect. Actually, he thought it was Joy. "Joy? Is that you? Did you come all this way to give me a good morning hug? That's sweet." He asked in a tired, yet proud tone.

"It ain't Kristie Alley and John Travolta!" The PollyTech shouted in his ear, alarming him.

"Hey! That wasn't nice." Chris scolded him.

"Hey! That was nice. You're folks wanted me to wake you up early."

"Early in the summer? That's unfair!" Chris said.

Just then, Uri went inside Chris' room sharing the same disappointment. "He woke you up too?" He asked.

"Nice of you to join us." PollyTech2500 remarked.

"Let's go Uri, before he follows us." Chris whispered.

"That's it. Okay, chop chop. Come on, you guys can do better than that." The robotic nuisance nagged them as they walked away from him.

When the boys got downstairs, Chris' mom had news to show them. "I'm glad you boys are up. I've just heard some news you may want to hear."

"What is it Aunt Phoebe?" Uri asked.

"You better turn on the TV, it involves Merlock House."

Chris was surprised. "House?"

Quickly, Uri turned on the TV to learn about what happened. They checked the news station to see what the entire hubbub was all about. Chris and Uri couldn't believe what they saw nor heard about House.

"This is ENN's Joseph Williams. In a stunning event this morning, Detective Merlock House was charged with theft of a box that was reported stolen yesterday from a jewelry store, but then was claimed back by House. Unfortunately, contents inside the box are missing. And investigators claimed to have found gambling IOUs and airline tickets. House claims that he didn't do it, but experts say that the charge against Merlock doesn't look good, especially since he's suppose to retire soon.

"This is terrible!" Chris said.

"Detective Merlock, a thief? That doesn't sound right." Uri said.

"I know you boys are disappointed. I wish it weren't true either." Phoebe said.

Chris was disappointed. "Something just not right. He couldn't have stolen it. It's just not possible."

Professor Peeper was walking downstairs thinking the same thing. "Certainly is strange, especially before retirement." He postulated.

Knowing that House couldn't have committed such a crime, Chris and Uri immediately went back to their rooms and quickly got changed. Then they headed outside and Chris got out his motorcycle and rode away, with Uri riding upfront.

The Professor followed after them to see what they were doing. "Where are you boys going?"

"We're gonna help House." Chris said as he rode away.

"But, he was just arrested. And your plans with him are cancelled. You can't go to the city now."

"That maybe, but we gotta help Merlock." Uri shouted in the distance as they rode away.

The Professor and Phoebe were both concerned for them, not knowing what was in store for them. Not too far off, was the PollyTech2500 behind them, not having a clue of what just happened.

"What's up Doc?" He remarked.

"Our son and my nephew could be in danger." The Professor said. "Now listen here, you monstrosity. I don't like you and you don't like me."

"Yeah. Yeah. What's your point?"

"He's saying that we want you to watch after them." Phoebe added.

"What ever you say madam micelle. I'll take care of the rugrat and the Michael Jackson reject."

"Just go now." The Professor commanded him. And without hesitation, The PollyTech2500 followed after Chris and Uriah.

In the meantime, Joy was outside her house waving towards them as they were coming her way. "Chris! Uriah!" She shouted in the distance.

Chris slowed down so they could talk.

"Hey Joy. You're coming with us?" Uri asked.

"Yeah. And don't worry, I heard all about it. Unfortunately, a familiar robot woke me up earlier than I expected."

"I know what and who you mean, Joy." Chris nodded.

"Hey guys. He's coming here right now." Uri pointed to the PollyTech2500 that was flying down their way.

"We better move fast. Hop on Joy." Chris said.

Joy quickly hop on and held on to Chris from behind, and then he drove away so that the PollyTech2500 wouldn't catch up to them. And so, our three heroes were on their way to the city of Ecto Valley, as they would try to figure out what went wrong with Merlock.

---

**Police Headquarters: 11:09 AM**

As mentioned, House had troubles of his own. He was locked up in a jail cell where the other officers were keeping close eye on him. As if he didn't have any other troubles of his own. "I'm telling you boys I didn't do it." He said.

"First, the box from the jewelry store, and now those gambling IOUs in your desk. This doesn't look good, Merlock." Sergeant O'Hare scolded him.

"You should know it wasn't me, Hare. Someone planted those papers inside the desk. Why don't you fellas believe me?"

"Hey man. We believe in you. But the DA's gonna want a better defense than 'some random guy' right?" Officer Wager said.

In the meantime, as if trouble wasn't being cooked up enough already, the Dalton gangs (in disguised) were spying in on police headquarters to see the look on Merlock's face.

"They actually believed it." Dinky said.

"Cops like these aren't too sharp." Pinky said.

"Now all we gotta do is let Iron Claw know that we did it. Let's go boys." Stinky said

As the Daltons were on their way to the nearest phone booth, not too far off in the distance were Chris, Joy and Uri biking to police headquarters. And they were determined to help their favorite Detective, one way or another. Quickly, Chris pulled over nearby and they got off to get to police headquarters. When they got inside, they found poor House locked up behind bars.

"Merlock. What happened?" Joy asked.

"Hey guys. Sorry about today."

"Don't worry. We believe we didn't do it." Chris said.

"What are you gonna do now?" Uri asked.

"What can I do? Damn it, I should've stayed here and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If I were free right now I'd track down the guy who set me up."

Upon hearing Merlock's grief, Chris came up with an idea. "I got an idea. What if Joy, Uri and I do it for you?"

Merlock was surprised at the idea. "Are you kidding me? You guys don't have training yet."

"Come on House. Think about it. Haven't we studied all your cases?" Joy said.

"And we've read all your stories." Chris added.

"And I helped Chris and Joy find our lost dog." Uri added.

"Get with the program guys. That doesn't make you guys detectives or policeman." House said.

"But Chris did get that jewelry box back to you, didn't he?" Uri added.

House then started developing second thoughts on their suggestion. "Well, that's true. And if you get the box back, they won't hold me for long."

"You'll let us find it for you?" Joy asked.

"Very well. Here's your mission: Find the real people responsible, and get the box back. After that, come back and I'll track down whose really responsible."

"That sounds easy enough, but we don't know where to start. How are we suppose to find the bad guys when we don't know the where they are." Chris said.

"I know." A familiar voice called out. Who could it be perhaps? Why, it was the PollyTech2500. He came flying in through the window of Merlock's prison cell and right on Chris' shoulder. "I see you guys are trying to solve a mystery. Mind if I cut in?"

"Didn't we outbike you back home? And why do you wanna help us?"

"Because when your uncle created me, he gave me X-ray vision."

"Really? You can track down the bad guy for us?" Uri asked.

"Observe." The robot said as he demonstrated his X-ray ability with his eyes. Before you knew it, it revealed unknown footprints.

Chris was amazed, but he tried not to get too excited. "Wow. That's amazing Uh, I mean…not bad for a chatterbox."

"Chatter. Shmatter kid. I can solve this mystery with my eyes closed."

"How about you come with us? We don't want to let Detective Merlock down and you're the only one who can track the real bad guys down. And if you come with us, will you promise to behave?" Joy suggested.

"Sure thing, babe. Besides, it was only my close encounter of the third kind with you kids. I barely know you. I barely know myself, in that matter. But what the heck? You chaps look like you got style, you got spunk, you got mail, you got game."

"Then it's a deal. And don't worry Mr. House. We'll find the bad guys, just like you did." Uri said.

"If you kids are really gonna help out House here, then you got three days to find proof. If you don't find the proof in that amount of time, then I'm afraid we're gonna have to press charges against House." Sergeant O'Hare told them.

"Don't worry gang. I'll be find." Merlock assured them.

Chris nodded. "Come on guys. We better hurry."

"Goodbye House." Uri said as they left.

"Good luck Chris, Joy and Uri. I hope you know what you're going up against." He said.

And so, our three heroes, alongside PT embarked on their first case to find the bad guys responsible for this mess. Yup, who knows what lied in store for them. Funny thing is, it didn't surprise them one bit. I guess it's more than something out of a book.

---

**11:58 AM Downtown Ecto Valley**

The Daltons were near their hideout as they were calling Iron Claw about the big news.

"Mr. Iron Claw? It's the Dalton gang." Stinky said.

"Why hello Stinky. I noticed you accomplished your mission." Iron Claw said.

"You betcha. We got the box while Merlock got the blame."

"That's what he gets for being such a rotten dresser." Pinky added.

"Thank you very much boys. I'll be back in town tomorrow to pick it up."

The brothers couldn't help but wonder what was inside. "Say. What's inside this box anyway?" Dinky asked.

"That's for me and my boss to know."

"You tell us now!" Finky whined.

"Yeah. After all we were the ones who stole it for you, or perhaps we should steal it from you." Pinky threatened.

Knowing that the box was important, Iron Claw agreed. "Alright. I'll let you know at midnight tonight. My boss will be accompanying me. He has the key that opens it."

"Why tonight? And who's the boss?" Dinky asked.

"His name is Vladin RasKilmer, the most notorious crime lord that you'd ever wish to meet. We have big plans for whatever's inside that box. That's why I don't want you boys to lose it, okay?"

Stinky sighed frustration. "Whatever you say Iron Claw. We'll keep this box safe for you."

"Perfect. Meet me at the Gen Sho club tonight. And I don't want any mishaps."

"We promise." They said.

Then they hung up and went about their business trying to keep hidden until they meet Iron Claw and his boss, Vladin RasKilmer. Who was Vladin RasKilmer? And what are his motives? And what could possibly be inside that box that he, Iron Claw and Dom Bell were after? I wish I knew all the answers.

---

**Later that Day**

As the day progressed on, our heroes were still on the hunt for the bad guys the box that they stole. The PollyTech2500 was leading the way as Chris, Joy and Uri followed him, hoping that he would help them find the bad guy. However, they were growing restless because they spent most of the day searching the city.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing? We've been wandering around town for hours and still haven't had a clue of where to find them." Joy asked the robot.

"Hey. I'm the robot, so I'm the one who should know everything, right? And boy do I hate knowing everything." The PollyTech remarked.

"But we looked everywhere." Uri said.

Just then, the PollyTech2500 noticed a television on display in a window and it was airing the news. "Everywhere?" He remarked.

"In other news; other than Merlock House accused of stealing, the Dalton brothers have escaped from city prison last night at around 11:34 PM. Their whereabouts are currently unknown, but experts are saying to be alert. They can strike anywhere, anytime, and anyplace. They've also been accused on accounts of theft, robbery, littering, and much more. Who knows where they could strike?" Joseph Williams reported on the TV.

"See what I mean?" PT said.

"You're telling us that they stole it?" Chris asked.

"Well, it could it logical. After all, they did escape out of prison."

"What do you think, Joy?" Chris asked.

"Actually, I think he's right. Merlock House once said that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. I say it wouldn't hurt if we try." She said.

"Well, I'm all for giving it a shot, but we don't know where those guys are."

"Why don't you learn to shut up and listen to the parrot. Remember kid, I can track their footprints."

Chris shrugged. "You're the parrot, PT."

The robotic parrot was confused by Chris' remark. "PT?"

"Well, it's what me and Chris decided to nickname you earlier." Uri commented.

"Oh come on. PT is a god-awful nickname. It's like 'ET' with 'E' replaced with a 'P'." PollyTech said.

"Just show us the way, PollyTech. We haven't got anytime to lose." Joy said.

"Whatever."

And so, the PollyTech2500 [or PT] lead our heroes to track down the Dalton gang, just as he proposed. Who knows where the PollyTech would lead our heroes in their quest to redeem House and get the mystery box back? And what kind of danger would be in store for them?

---

**Emmett L. Bar 6:49PM**

It was getting late and the sun was already setting for the day. And it was a peaceful evening at the Emmett L. Bar, located down the street from the City Bridge. A place where people can get together and have a few drinks and sing karaoke. A lot of strangers were around having a good time, and who else was to show up? Why none other than the Dalton gang. They had driven down there to have a night that they would never forget.

In the meantime, everybody else inside the bar was minding their own business and having a good time, especially the bar owner and bartender, Emmett Louie. He was doing what he did best, by serving everybody a tasty drink and a friendly smile. "Enjoy your drink, my brother." He said as he passed it along to a customer. "My oh my. You know it's a not a fantasy—business is booming tonight. I wish business was booming like this everyday of the rest of my life." He said to himself.

Just then, in came the party crashers as they busted the front door; the Dalton brothers of course. And as usual, they started saying their names, one by one.

"I'm Pinky."

"I'm Finky."

"I'm Stinky."

Where was Dinky, you're wondering? Why, he used all his might to crash through the entrance so he could fit inside. "And I'm Dinky. We're the Dalton gang."

Everybody was surprised and shocked to see the Dalton gang, but not Emmett Louie. He stood his ground and came approaching them with an angry look on his face. "Get outta my place, Daltons."

Before he could do anything, they drew out their guns at him. Emmett stayed right where he was so he wouldn't get shot.

"Where's your manners?" Pinky remarked.

Emmett was nervous, but he kept his cool. "Take it easy, I was just giving my customers a head start. I don't want any trouble now, you hear?"

"Go get us a drink now!" Finky demanded

"All right! All right! Hold your horses." Emmett said as he went back to the bar to get them a couple of drinks.

A few people were nervous on what to do. After all, the Daltons had broken outta jail last night. "What should we do?" A guy asked.

"I don't know. But if we sneak quietly, we could call the police." The other guy said as he pointed to the phone quietly.

Just then, Dinky shot the phone. "That's what you think. Hehe." He said.

"Alright everybody! Listen up, we want ourselves to have a good night. So we better not have any slipups or they'll be a room full of slipups when we're done." Stinky shouted.

"Enough harassing' my customers man. What's your drink tonight?" Emmett asked.

"I want a Jell-O shot, on the rocks!" Finky whined.

"One Melon Ball shooter please." Dinky asked.

"One Blueberry daiquiri for me!" Stinky said.

"I'll have a Shirley temple, with two cherries." Pinky said.

"Cool it man. They're coming up."

As Emmett was preparing the drinks for the Dalton brothers, guess who else was about to show up to the party? Yup, it was Christopher Peeper, Joy, Uriah and the PollyTech2500 [PT for short]. As usual, PT was hot on their trail as he tracked it to the Emmett L. Bar. But Chris and the others were getting tired.

"Come on, PT. How much longer?" Uri complained.

"The name is PollyTech kid. We should find them soon enough."

"You said that 45 minutes ago."

"Face it guys, we're lost." Chris said.

Just then, The PollyTech2500 had just detected the Emmett L. Bar straight ahead. "Guess who I found?"

"You found them?" Joy asked.

"You betcha, princess peach. They're right inside that bar."

Quietly, our heroes tiptoed nearby and looked through the window to see the Daltons at their meanest as Emmett finished fixing up their drinks.

"Bottoms up, boys." Emmett remarked.

One by one the Dalton brothers each drank their drink.

Stinky, Dinky and Finky chugged down their drinks as fast as they could, and finished it off quickly. And of course, Pinky drank his slowly with his pinky extended. "You always serve such tasty drinks, Emmett." He remarked. After they were done, they waited to see their reaction to each drink.

For Dinky's reaction, there was a burst of energy coming through his head.

Finky's reaction to his drink was that his stomach exploding from the inside.

Stinky's reacted to his drink was his eyes twitching.

As for Pinky, bubbles were bursting right through his nose. But he actually enjoyed it. "Ooh, the bubbles tickle my nose." He said.

The type of villains they were up against piqued Christopher. "Who are these kooks?" He remarked.

"A bunch of retards I wouldn't trust with a potato gun." PT remarked.

Just then, Uri spotted the mystery box in Dinky's pocket. "Hey look. They did steal the box after all. It's inside that huge fellas' pocket."

"How are we suppose to get it?" Chris asked.

"Leave it to me, champ." PT remarked as he flew in.

"What are you doing? We're not suppose to attract attention." Joy whispered.

But PT didn't listen to Joy. He just flew in the bar to get a closer view of the Daltons, who were complaining about demanding more from what Emmett's bar could offer.

"I'm not thirsty anymore! I want entertainment!" Finky whined.

"How about some singing, Emmett?" Dinky asked.

"Preferrably Pop." Pinky said.

"Not so fast. I wanna rock!" Stinky argued.

"Pop."

"Rock!"

"Pop."

"Rock!"

Quickly thinking, PT decided to end their pointless argument by flying in to intervene. "Well hello, bugs bunny and daffy duck. Looking for a tune tonight? I'll be happy to take requests. I'll take one from you, my pink friend." He bluffed.

"Oh boy; a singing parrot. Can you please sing 'Never Gonna Give You up?'" Pinky requested.

"Well pal, all I can say is: Let's get Rick Rolled." PT remarked as he was about to start singing. "Hit it boys." The next thing you knew, the music started playing and it was PT's time to shine.

Chris, Joy and Uri couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"What kind of robot did Uncle Ken create?" Chris remarked.

"One that's more chaotic than Gizmo." Uri answered.

"Maybe we can sneak inside and get it while they're distracted." Joy suggested.

Chris nodded. "Think you can grab it while they're not looking, Uri?"

Uri gulped. "I'll try."

"Be careful, Uriah." Joy said.

Uri quietly tiptoed inside the bar as PT was singing to distract the whole bar along with the Dalton gang. They looked at each other and Chris gave Uri the signal to approach Dinky Dalton, while he and Joy hid behind the door.

In the meantime, as PT was singing, he flew off the stage and landed on the bar, grabbed a plastic cup and small straw and began imitating the Michigan Frog dance as he was singing the Rick Roll tune. Everybody was filled with delight, that they practically forgot that the Daltons were holding them hostage.

But while the Daltons were having their share of fun, Uri did as he was told and quickly grabbed the mystery box from Dinky's back pocket, hid the box in the back of his shirt and tiptoed away quietly.

But alas, PT was done singing 'never gonna give you up.' And everybody applauded him. Uri quickly hid under a chair so that nobody would notice him.

And unfortunately, Finky looked back only to noticed that the mystery box was missing. "You're missing the box! Where's the box?!" Finky whined.

The rest of the Daltons quickly noticed and were shocked. "We've been hagged!" Stinky shouted.

"Alright! Who's the rotten dresser who took our box?" Pinky shouted.

"Look brother. I have no idea what you could be possibly be talking." Emmett said.

Suddenly, Dinky spotted Uriah as he was tiptoeing away and came in between him and Chris and Joy before he could escape. "Uh, why hello." Uri said.

"Well looky what we have here." Dinky said.

PT quickly flew over on Uri's shoulder. "Lay off chump. The kid's with me."

"So, you're the rotten dressers responsible for stealing from the Daltons." Pinky said as he and the boys surrounded them.

Chris and Joy got up from hiding to guard Uri. "You leave my cousin alone or you'll never see that box again." Chris said.

"What have you done with it, blue boy?" Stinky said.

"It's right over there." Joy pointed in the other direction.

"Where?" They asked. And without warning, Chris pushed Stinky and he fumbled right on his brothers.

"Run away!" Chris shouted as our heroes headed for the exit. After they got outside, Chris hopped on his motorcycle with his friends holding onto him as he drove away.

"Get them!" Finky shouted. And before you knew it, the four Daltons got up and exited the bar and chased our heroes.

Emmett was surprised at what he was just saw. "Wow. Those kids are awesome." He commented.

In the meantime, Chris and the gang were driving around the streets as they were trying to avoid danger.

"This detective stuff isn't as easy as I thought." Uri said.

"Welcome to the real world kiddo. Now you know that life isn't about fun and games." PT commented.

"Speaking of games, you're goofing around could've gotten us in trouble." Joy scolded him.

"Whoa. Excuse me, princess hotty pants. I was merely helping you, your boyfriend and little friend out."

"Joy's right, PT. Eventually what you reap is what you sow." Uri said.

"Hang on. I'm gonna try to outrun them." Chris said as he increased the speed on his motorcycle. Faster and faster he drove, while the Daltons tried to keep up with them. "We're gonna make it! We're gonna make it!"

"He's getting away!" Finky whined.

"Don't worry. I'll get them." Stinky said as he grabbed out a rope from his car. He then formed a lasso and threw it at Chris' motorcycle. When it caught on, he gave it a tug and then our heroes fell off and landed on the ground, with Chris' motorcycle being badly damaged. And the box fell out of Uri's shirt.

Chris was surprised at what happened to his motorcycle. "My motorcylce!"

"Look's like it'll never play the violin again." PT remarked.

The Daltons then pulled over in front of our heroes and surrounded them. "Going somewhere?" Dinky remarked as he and Pinky grabbed our heroes. They tried desperately to break free, but they were stuck in their clutches.

"Looks like we win." Stinky said as he grabbed the box from the ground.

"And it looks like you got a meeting with us at the top of the Town Bridge." Dinky remarked.

---

**Top of the City Bridge; 7:44 PM**

The Daltons had Chris, Joy, Uri and PT right where they wanted them. The four brothers were at the top of the City Bridge with our captured heroes. Chris and Joy were in the grasp of Dinky's big hands, while Uri and PT were in the grasp of Pinky's hands.

And it seems Chris, Joy and Uri were still upset with PT. "Now do you see what you're goofing off got us into?" Joy scolded PT.

"We don't know who you kids are, and we don't care. But nobody messes with the Daltons," Stinky said.

"And lives to tell about it." Finky added.

"And when you cross the Daltons," Dinky said.

"You all take a great big fall." Pinky said.

And without warning, Chris, Joy, Uri and PT were thrown off the bridge and fell to their dooms. Could this really be the end for our heroes? Will they live to tell about the Daltons? And will they get that mystery box back from them?

To be continued…


End file.
